Smart Ticketing Alliance formally established

EUROPE: Transport smart card operators from 10 countries joined five founder members in Brussels to formally launch the Smart Ticketing Alliance on June 24.

The international non-profit association is the result of a memorandum of understanding which was signed two years ago.

It aims to lead the way towards a single transport implementation specification for the cross-border use of NFC phones across Europe, with working groups now looking at the contactless interface, NFC, certification and media security.

‘The transport smart card industry is very fragmented and needs a single voice across Europe, and wider, to get what we need from the latest customer smart media’, said STA’s first Chairman, John Verity of ITSO. ‘We need security, we need speed and we need consistency in response from suppliers.’